Tonight's Movie: Maigret Sees Red (1963) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

I've returned from spending most of two weeks at back-to-back film festivals, and coverage of both fests will be coming as soon as possible.

First, though, a couple of film reviews!

Regular readers know that I've fallen under the spell of French film noir and crime films, mostly thanks to an ongoing series of releases by Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Kino Lorber's latest release in this genre is MAIGRET SEES RED (1963), known in France as MAIGRET VOIT ROUGE.

The film is a police procedural starring Jean Gabin as Police Commissioner Jules Maigret. It's actually the third film in a series, and Kino Lorber will release all three films in June as part of a three-film Maigret collection. MAIGRET SETS A TRAP (1958) and MAIGRET AND THE ST. FIACRE CASE (1959) will be boxed with MAIGRET SEES RED.

I won't know until I watch those first two films if I missed anything significant ahead of viewing MAIGRET SEES RED, but it didn't feel like it. I enjoyed the film from the first moments, as a car drives through a gleaming black-and-white Paris, accompanied by a jazzy score. (The composers were Michel Legrand and Francis Lemarque.)

As the movie begins, a group of American mobsters gun down a man on a Paris sidewalk -- but when the police arrive, the body is gone. This strange happening is compounded when police inspector Longnon (Guy Decomble) is briefly kidnapped and beaten to tell what he knows of the incident.

Commissioner Maigret (Gabin) is soon heading the case, aided by Longnon, Torrence (Marcel Bozzufi), and other hardworking members of the police force. As the body count grows, Maigret gradually uncovers a plot by the mobsters to kill an important witness.

There may be nothing particularly remarkable about this film, directed by Gabin's longtime collaborator Gilles Grangier, but I found it a very pleasing 87 minutes.

In my review of TOUCHEZ PAS AU GRISBI (1954) I mused on what makes Jean Gabin so interesting to watch, saying in part "...he commands attention. There's a certain confidence to his performances...including the sense that his characters know a great deal."

That was certainly the case here. This quiet, burly man, passing middle age, should ostensibly not engender such confidence in the viewer, but he certainly does. It's clear from the way he carries himself and speaks to others that he has a wealth of knowledge and knows what he's doing.

I love the way he's gently encouraging with Lognon, who is embarrassed by having given the bad guys information as they started to knock out his teeth. In contrast, one of my favorite scenes comes late in the film when he's being tailed by the gangsters; he calmly heads into a business and calls his station, barking out orders for the plan he's instantly put together.

There are some really interesting odds and ends in the film, such as the bowling alley patronized by Americans and a cash register which pops up a coded signal on multiple occasions. I also enjoyed the glimpses of the era; when Maigret visits the American embassy, there's a portrait of JFK in the background.

The American mobster angle means there's quite a bit of English in the film, including interesting multi-lingual exchanges between Maigret and his old friend, diplomat Harry McDonald (Paul Carpenter), another unusual element.

I found this film, which on one level is a fairly ordinary police procedural, completely enjoyable, with a very "noir" tone. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will watch it again, and I'm very much looking forward to the other two films being available in the near future.

The Blu-ray print is a 4K restoration from Studiocanal. It looks terrific, showing off the black and white cinematography of Louis Page, and sound quality is good as well.

This is a Special Edition with a cardboard slipcase. Extras consist of a trailer; a gallery of trailers for nine other films available from Kino Lorber; and a commentary track by Simon Abrams.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

Tweet

Around the Blogosphere This Week...

...is taking the weekend off.

This weekend I'm attending the annual Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Palm Springs.

It's been a busy time, as last weekend I was at the TCM Classic Film Festival.

The column will return next weekend, on May 16th.

For recent links of interest to classic film fans, please visit my April 25th column.

Tweet

New Western RoundUp Column at Classic Movie Hub

My newest Western RoundUp column has been posted at Classic Movie Hub.

In this month's column I share one of my periodic tributes to Western filmmakers via visits to their final resting places.

Please click over to Classic Movie Hub to read the column, which includes a number of photographs, and many thanks for reading!

Previous Classic Movie Hub Western RoundUp Column Links: June 2018; July 2018; August 2018; September 2018; October 2018; November 2018; December 2018; January 2019; February 2019; April 5, 2019; April 30, 2019; May 2019; June 2019; July 2019; August 2019; September 2019; October 2019; November 2019; December 2019; January 2020; February 2020; March 2020; April 2020; May 2020; June 2020; July 2020; August 2020; September 2020; October 2020; November 2020; December 2020; January 2021; February 2021; March 2021; May 2021; June 2021; June 2021 (No. 2); July 2021; August 2021; September 2021; November 2021; December 2021; December 2021 (No. 2); January 2022; February 2022; March 2022; April 2022; May 2022; June 2022; July 2022; August 2022; September 2022; November 2022; November 2022 (No. 2); January 2023 (No. 1); January 2023 (No. 2); March 2023; April 2023; May 2023 (No. 1); May 2023 (No. 2); June 2023; July 2023; September 2023; September 2023 (No. 2); October 2023; November 2023; December 2023; January 2024; February 2024; March 2024; April 2024; May 2024; June 2024; July 2024; August 2024; September 2024; October 2024; November 2024; December 2024; January 2025; February 2025; March 2025; April 2025; May 2025; June 2025; July 2025; August 2025; September 2025; October 2025; November 2025; January 2026 (No. 1); January 2026 (No. 2); February 2026; March 2026.

Tweet

Around the Blogosphere This Week...

...is taking the weekend off.

This weekend I'm attending the annual TCM Classic Film Festival!

The column will also not appear next weekend, when I'll be at the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival.

I'll have reporting on both festivals here as soon as possible, given my time away.

Around the Blogosphere This Week will return on Saturday, May 16th.

In the meantime, please visit my most recent April 25th roundup column here.

Tweet

TCM in May: Highlights

It's time for a look at the May schedule on Turner Classic Movies!

Gregory Peck is the May Star of the Month. Approximately 20 Peck films will be shown spread across Friday evenings this month.

The May Noir Alley films will be DRUNKEN ANGEL (1948) on May 2nd and 3rd, THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS (1946) on the 9th and 10th, STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951) May 16th-17th, and HOUSE OF NUMBERS (1957) on the 30th and 31st.

I love the May Special Theme, focusing on Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu every Tuesday evening. Several Ozu films will have their TCM premieres, including the new TCM documenary THE OZU DIARIES (2025), plus WHAT DID THE LADY FORGET? (1937), BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF THE TODA FAMILY (1941), FLAVOR OF GREEN TEA OVER RICE (1952), which is seen in this photo, and more.

Details on the entire Ozu series may be found in this TCM press release, and I encourage those interested to print out the Ozu schedule included in the release, as this is a very special series. (Seen here, Setsuko Hara in LATE SPRING.)

THE OZU DIARIES will also be shown at this month's TCM Classic Film Festival, and I hope to see it there.

The TCM Spotlight will be focused on biographies of Hollywood filmmakers on Wednesday, with films including MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES (1957), TOO MUCH, TOON SOON (1958), and GABLE AND LOMBARD (1976).

As usual, there is also special May programming for Mother's Day (May 10th) and Memorial Day Weekend (May 22nd-25th).

Below are just a few of this month's highlights. Please click on any hyperlinked title for my extended review.

...A six-film daytime birthday tribute to Glenn Ford on May 1st is followed by the first evening of Gregory Peck films, including Hitchcock's SPELLBOUND (1945), costarring Ingrid Bergman.

...Amy Irving and Peter Riegert star in the romance CROSSING DELANCEY (1988) on Saturday evening, May 2nd.

...The 70th anniversary of John Ford's THE SEARCHERS (1956) will be marked by TCM on Sunday evening, May 3rd.

...A day of 1950s sci-fi on May 4th includes one of my very favorites of that genre, THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (1953). My favorite scene has Lee Van Cleef (seen here) as an army sharpshooter trying to take out the beast, who's atop a flaming roller coaster!

...The May 6th schedule features tap dancing, including Eleanor Powell in BROADWAY MELODY OF 1936 (1935) and BORN TO DANCE (1936).

...An interesting series on May 7th, continuing on May 14th, is "games people play," with movies featuring various types of games.  The lineup on May 7th includes one of Audie Murphy's very best films, NO NAME ON THE BULLET (1959), in which he plays chess with Charles Drake.

...The second evening of Gregory Peck films, on May 9th, includes William Wyler's excellent THE BIG COUNTRY (1958). I must confess, however, that I find Charlton's Heston's anti-hero character more interesting than Peck's hero!

...There's a terrific lineup for Mother's Day on May 10th, including (of course!) MILDRED PIERCE (1945). I especially recommend I REMEMBER MAMA (1948), which I revisited last year for the first time in many years; I came away thoroughly impressed with it.

...A day of films from director Edward Dmytryk on May 11th includes a "B" movie I enjoyed, SEVEN MILES FROM ALCATRAZ (1942), starring James Craig and Bonita Granville.

...I've seen every one of the nine film noir and crime titles TCM is airing during the day on May 12th; it's a great day to stay home and watch movies, one after the other! That evening, the Yasujiro Ozu films include the title that might be my favorite of many great Ozu movies, EARLY SUMMER (1951), starring the great Setsuko Hara.

...May 14th features crime films, including the entertaining WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS (1956), with Dana Andrews heading an all-star cast.

...10 pre-Code melodramas will be shown on May 15th. I've seen most of them, and it's another great day of viewing, including the film which is perhaps my very favorite pre-Code, MIDNIGHT MARY (1933). MIDNIGHT MARY stars Loretta Young, Franchot Tone, and Ricardo Cortez.

...Rodgers and Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC (1958) is a perfect Sunday afternoon musical, showing on May 17th. I find it's a much better film than is generally recognized.

...The May 18th theme is "sisters," with a terrific lineup including TWO GIRLS AND A SAILOR (1944), LITTLE WOMEN (1933), MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944), and THE MAKIOKA SISTERS (1983).

...1950s musicals are the daytime lineup on May 19th, including enjoyable films such as THE BELLE OF NEW YORK (1952), DUCHESS OF IDAHO (1950), and STRICTLY DISHONORABLE (1951). A Mario Lanza film I recently enjoyed, FOR THE FIRST TIME (1959), is also part of the lineup, and I'm intrigued by a film I've never before seen, BRING YOUR SMILE ALONG (1955), starring Frankie Laine, Keefe Brasselle, and Constance Towers.

...There's a great lineup of movies directed by Nicholas Ray on May 20th, including ON DANGEROUS GROUND (1952), starring Robert Ryan and Ida Lupino.

...The "Counting Up" theme on May 21st begins with ONE MILLION B.C. (1940). Every film has a number in the title, including one of my very favorite films, SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS (1954).

...On Friday evening, May 22nd, the Memorial Day weekend war film marathon begins by overlapping with an evening of Gregory Peck Star of the Month movies, with a lineup that includes MACARTHUR (1977) and THE GUNS OF NAVARONE (1961).

...The films on May 23rd include the very good THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO (1944), starring Spencer Tracy and Van Johnson. It's of note that Tracy and Johnson had also combined for the previous war film A GUY NAMED JOE (1943), which made Johnson a star. I saw A GUY NAMED JOE last year at the TCM Classic Film Festival and enjoyed my revisit.

...The war films on May 24th include PRIDE OF THE MARINES (1945), an excellent film starring John Garfield and Eleanor Parker.

...Memorial Day, on May 25th, will include a showing of one of the very greatest war films, William Wellman's BATTLEGROUND (1949) -- which coincidentally also stars Van Johnson.

...The Ozu films on May 26th include the first of his films I ever saw, EQUINOX FLOWER (1958). Clearly I liked it very much, as it started me down the path of viewing many more Ozu movies in the years since.

...I really enjoy THE LAST OF MRS. CHEYNEY (1937), a very entertaining romance starring Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, and William Powell. It airs on May 28th.

For more on TCM in May, please visit my Quick Preview of TCM in May along with TCM's online schedule.

Tweet

Tonight's Movie: Honky Tonk (1941) - A Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

HONKY TONK (1941), an excellent example of '40s MGM star power, was just released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive Collection.

Clark Gable stars as Candy Johnson, a con man of sorts who arrives in a new frontier town with his partner Sniper (Chill Wills) and promptly falls head over heels for young Elizabeth (Lana Turner), whom he'd first met on the train.

Elizabeth believes her father (Frank Morgan), whom she hasn't seen in years, is a respectable judge, but he's actually an old friend of Candy's who has a crooked past himself.

Candy gradually wins over Elizabeth, especially after he donates money to a church, and they marry, to the dismay of her father.

It's a long, winding road to Candy and Elizabeth finding happiness, not to mention Candy finding honesty, but by the end of the movie's 105 minutes, they seem to finally have made it.

The screenplay was written by Marguerite Roberts and John Sanford and a host of uncredited contributors, including James Edward Grant.

The story honestly could have had more substance, as it somewhat meanders along; that said, the film is mostly given over to the Gable-Turner relationship and they absolutely sizzle together, so I suppose that's really all that matters!

One wonders if the theme of the sweet young girl inspiring a rascal to reform had strong input from writer Grant, given the theme of his great John Wayne-Gail Russell Western ANGEL AND THE BADMAN (1947) later in the decade.

I've loved HONKY TONK since my teen years but have to admit Gable's "up to no good" Candy hasn't worn well in some ways, given that he spends most of the movie as an unethical trickster; however, he does have a nice character arc where various circumstances, including the realization of how his behavior has negatively impacted the woman he loves, finally lead him to turn over a new leaf.

And oh, is he ever handsome! Gable's dazzling smile could sell anything. I've written it here before, but truly, he was the King of Hollywood.

As for Turner, her acting here isn't especially developed, but she's absolutely adorable, and she wears beautiful dresses designed by Kalloch; at one point Candy tells Elizabeth "You're prettier than a little white kitten with a blue ribbon on it," and that's more than apt.

In addition to Wills and Morgan, the supporting cast is topped by the great Claire Trevor as a saloon gal with feelings for Candy; Trevor doesn't have enough to do but, as always, she adds to every scene in which she appears.

In the book CLAIRE TREVOR: THE LIFE AND FILMS OF THE QUEEN OF NOIR by Derek Sculthorpe, the author writes that Trevor liked making the film and thought she'd given a good performance, but she was horrified when she attended the premiere and saw how her role had been edited: "I felt they had massacred my part." Despite Trevor's fears it would negatively impact her career, she continued to work steadily, with her great years in film noir still ahead of her.

Marjorie Main is also a key cast contributor, along with Albert Dekker, Henry O'Neill, and Cliff Clark.

The movie was directed by Jack Conway, scored by Franz Waxman, and filmed in black and white by Harold Rosson and the uncredited William H. Daniels.

IMDb indicates the railroad station scenes were filmed in Jamestown, California; as it happens, I was at the famed movie location Railtown in Jamestown just last week and didn't recognize any of the train scenes as being filmed there, though it's possible they were shot at Railtown with temporary sets. For the most part this is very much an "MGM backlot Western."

HONKY TONK was originally released by the Warner Archive Collection on DVD back in 2009.

The Warner Archive Blu-ray print is from a 1080p HD master from a 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative. The print is so clear and sharp that I found myself carefully examining the background in the early train station scenes; was it a matte painting or a giant mural? The movie looks and sounds great.

Extras consist of the trailer; the Tom and Jerry cartoon THE MIDNIGHT SNACK (1941); the Our Gang short FIGHTIN' FOOLS (1941) directed by Edward L. Cahn; and most importantly, to my thinking, the April 1946 Lux Radio Theater production of HONKY TONK starring Lana Turner, John Hodiak, and Nina Foch. It's interesting that the radio version didn't appear for half a decade after the movie's release; Turner and Hodiak had previously costarred in MARRIAGE IS A PRIVATE AFFAIR (1944).

Is HONKY TONK the strongest Western ever made? No, but it's nonetheless steadily entertaining, and fans of Gable and Turner will be more than pleased with this great-looking Blu-ray disc.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. Warner Archive Blu-rays may be ordered from Movie Zyng, Amazon, and other online retailers.

Tweet

Around the Blogosphere This Week

Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the Internet...

...Coming to Blu-ray later this year from ClassicFlix: Hopalong Cassidy - The Legacy Collection, Volume 2. The set will contain CALL OF THE PRAIRIE (1936), THREE ON A TRAIL (1936), and HEART OF THE WEST (1936), plus bonus features. There's more info on the movies in this collection from Toby Roan at 50 Westerns From the 50s.

...King Vidor's THE TEXAS RANGERS (1936) will be out on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics in June. It will feature not one but two commentary tracks, one by Toby Roan and the other by Heath Holland and Max Allan Collins.

...As a newly minted Lino Ventura fan, thanks to films such as THE BEAST IS LOOSE (1959), I'm especially interested in BIRDS OF PREY (1968), also coming from Kino Lorber in June. Additional June Blu-ray releases from Kino Lorber include the Brit Noir Collection II, with three films starring Jack Hawkins, and Hell's Highway: The True Story of Highway Safety Films.

...For my fellow fans of TV's GILMORE GIRLS: Hallmark has a new 1000-piece Stars Hollow jigsaw puzzle.

...HUD (1963), starring Paul Newman and Melvyn Douglas, is due out from the Criterion Collection this July.

...Over at Riding the High Country, Colin reviews a favorite film of mine, ARMORED CAR ROBBERY (1950). It was directed by Richard Fleischer, who as I mentioned last week is the subject of an upcoming biography.

...Former child actor Ike Eisenmann (ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN) has written a memoir, YOU'LL NEVER BE A STAR! MY FANTASTIC, CHALLENGING JOURNEY TO DISNEY, STAR TREK AND BEYOND. It was published by Bear Manor Media.

...The Studio Ghibli Fest will take place in theaters nationwide again this year, from June through October. Over the years I've seen some great animated films thanks to this annual series. I've enjoyed four of the seven films scheduled for this year's festival and especially recommend PONYO (2008) and MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (1988).

...A few days ago I shared my picks for this year's TCM Classic Film Festival. Here are additional schedule reviews by my friends Aurora (Once Upon a Screen), Karen (Shadows and Satin), Kim (I See a Dark Theater), and Chris (Blog of the Darned). Anyone who's written a similar post is welcome to share the link in the comments.

...Some of the latest Blu-ray reviews by CineSavant Glenn Erickson: THE GAY DIVORCEE (1934) from the Warner Archive Collection, GAMBLING SHIP (1933) and INTERNATIONAL HOUSE (1933) from Universal, and THE MAN WHO RECLAIMED HIS HEAD (1934) from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

...Laura Jerrolds, author of LAURA LA PLANTE: SILENT CINDERELLA, has an upcoming book on actress Marian Nixon. The full title is MARIAN NIXON: THE NICEST GIRL IN HOLLYWOOD. Nixon was long married to director William Seiter and after his passing married actor Ben Lyon, who had recently lost his wife, Bebe Daniels. I've enjoyed Nixon in films such as WHAT HAPPENED TO JONES? (1926) and TOO BUSY TO WORK (1932)

...At The Hannibal 8 Toby reports that a VCI Poverty Row Classics set of two East Side Kids has had one of the titles swapped out. As I shared here last month, the films were expected to be EAST SIDE KIDS (1940) and THAT GANG OF MINE (1940). Toby has learned that it seems THAT GANG OF MINE will be replaced by LET'S GET TOUGH (1942).

...This October I'm looking forward to THE UNOFFICIAL DISNEY PARKS RETRO COOKBOOK by Julie Tremaine and Carly Caramanna, published by Harper. (Via Keith Buczak.)

...For Classic Movie Hub's Noir Nook, Karen Burroughs Hannsberry has a great analysis of whether or not Mildred was responsible for her daughter's Veda's defective character in MILDRED PIERCE (1945).

...HERSHEY (2026), due out in November, is a biography of chocolate magnate Milton Hershey and his wife. A few days ago a trailer was released.

...Actress Virginia Huston, best known as Ann in OUT OF THE PAST (1947), was born 101 years ago, on April 24, 1925. Here are some interesting LIFE magazine photos of Huston as a "starlet in training" at RKO. Other familiar faces in the photos include Jane Greer, Martha Hyer, and Nan Leslie.

...April 25th is the birthday of the great Ella Fitzgerald, born in 1917. I'll use this anniversary to recommend (again!) my all-time favorite album, Ella's The Rodgers and Hart Songbook. (Her other "Songbooks" are great also!) In 2022 I was moved to visit her final resting place in Inglewood.

...Notable Passing: I was very much saddened to learn of the sudden passing this week of David Fantle, a Marquette University professor and the co-author of several film books with Tom Johnson, including C'MON, GET HAPPY: THE MAKING OF SUMMER STOCK. Although I didn't know him well, we followed each other on Twitter and I enjoyed our interactions. He will be very much missed. (Update: Here is a tribute to David Fantle in The Hollywood Reporter by my friend Chris Yogerst, who knew David personally.)

...More Notable Passings: French actress Nathalie Baye, who appeared in DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA (2022) has passed away at 77...DAYS OF OUR LIVES actor Patrick Muldoon has died at 57. He was in nearly 500 episodes of the long-running soap opera...Actor Richard Donat, the nephew of Robert Donat and brother of Peter Donat, has passed on at 84...Mario Adorf, who memorably played the killer in Robert Siodmak's THE DEVIL STRIKES AT NIGHT (1957), has died at 95...Famed orchestra conductor Michael Tilson Thomas has died at 81...Oscar-winning production designer Dean Tavoularis has passed away at 93. His Oscar was for art direction and set decoration of THE GODFATHER: PART II (1974)...Valerie Lee, who as a child was a Munchkin in THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939), has died at 94. It is believed two cast members who worked on THE WIZARD OF OZ are still with us: Priscilla Montgomery Clark, who was another child Munchkin, and Caren Marsh Doll, who was Judy Garland's stand-in and whose feet are said to be seen tapping the heels together in the ruby slippers. Doll, the sister of the late actress Dorothy Morris, remarkably turned 107 on April 6th.

...Please note that Around the Blogosphere This Week will not appear the next two weekends, May 2nd and 9th, while I attend the back-to-back TCM Classic Film Festival and Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival. I anticipate that the column will return on May 16th, although my attendance at the annual McCrea Ranch Cowboy Cookout that afternoon may make it a bit of a challenge; I'll do my best! Anyone who's dreamed of visiting the home of Joel McCrea and Frances Dee and would also like to support the ranch at this annual fundraiser can sign up here.

...It's going to be a busy spring! On May 17th I'll be competing in MouseAdventure at Disney California Adventure. (Last year my team placed 2nd in the Basic division, and we won in 2023; what will this year bring?) Other items on my agenda in May and June include a Dodgers game, a day at the UCLA Festival of Preservation, and the annual Concert in the Rocks concert in Lone Pine, which benefits the Museum of Western Film History.

...For additional recent links of interest to classic film fans, please visit my April 11th column.

Tweet

Schedule Announced for the 2026 UCLA Festival of Preservation

In March I shared that the UCLA Festival of Preservation has been scheduled to take place from May 29th through 31st at the Billy Wilder Theater in Westwood.

The schedule for the entire weekend is now available at the UCLA Film & Television Archive website.

The schedule opens Friday evening, the 29th, with a film and TV special celebrating black performers such as Ossie Davis and Redd Foxx.

I intend to see four films on Saturday the 30th:

*ADVENTURES OF CASANOVA (1948) which I saw in a 16mm print at UCLA a dozen years ago. This is the world premiere of a new DCP restoration from a variety of elements including the original 35mm nitrate negative and a 16mm print. It stars Arturo de Cordova and Lucille Bremer.

*A new DCP restoration of the silent film LORNA DOONE (1922). It was directed by Maurice Tourneur (father of Jacques) and stars Madge Bellamy.

*The premiere of a DCP restoration of one of my favorite '30s comedies, MERRILY WE LIVE (1938), with Constance Bennett and Brian Aherne leading a top cast of players.

*The new-to-me THE MAGNIFICENT MATADOR (1955), directed by Budd Boetticher and starring Anthony Quinn and Maureen O'Hara.

As is common for this festival, on one night it runs quite late into the evening, with the last film Saturday night starting just before 11:00 p.m.

I don't anticipate being able to attend on Sunday, when the options I find especially interesting are TRAILIN' (1921) with Tom Mix; the film noir PITFALL (1948), which I reviewed in 2012; and the Barbara Stanwyck film THE OTHER LOVE (1947).

The festival is free, on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information please visit the website.

Looking back: The 2011 UCLA Festival of Preservation, The 2013 UCLA Festival of Preservation, The 2015 UCLA Festival of Preservation, The 2017 UCLA Festival of Preservation, The 2019 UCLA Festival of Preservation, The 2022 UCLA Festival of Preservation. (I did not cover the 2024 festival.)

Tweet

Tonight's Movie: Crack-Up (1946) - A Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

CRACK-UP (1946), a somewhat confusing yet also very enjoyable RKO film noir, will be released on Blu-ray next week by the Warner Archive Collection.

I first saw this film via the Warner Archive DVD a decade ago. Both then and now I found the film not completely successful, yet despite that I still like it very much. It has a great cast, wonderful atmosphere, and some snappy dialogue to offset a sometimes murky plot.

As the movie begins, art expert George Steele (Pat O'Brien) staggers into a museum, seemingly drunk, having a breakdown, or both. He claims he's been in a horrific train wreck, but Detective Cochrane (Wallace Ford) says no train wrecks have been reported...

Despite his violent arrival at the museum, George is allowed to go home thanks to Traybin (Herbert Marshall), a British art expert who happens to be present; Traybin convinces the police that letting George go home would be the best thing for all involved.

George quickly begins piecing together what actually happened to him, aided by his girlfriend Terry (Claire Trevor). He takes another train ride...and eventually realizes something strange is going on which may involve forgeries of famous paintings.

As alluded to above, CRACK-UP has a great deal going for it, starting with the cast. Some critics have felt O'Brien is miscast as a man of the arts, but the entire point of his character -- who had saved art stolen by the Nazis, a la THE MONUMENTS MEN (2014) -- is that he's a rebel who doesn't quite fit in the art world. His lectures stir controversy among the museum experts and board members.

Steele is also a skilled technician when it comes to using x-rays to help identify forgeries, which also fits in with O'Brien's "everyman among the arts" character.

Trevor as the supportive girlfriend is on screen a great deal, though she doesn't have a great deal to actually do other than sling some great lines of dialogue. Despite her character's lack of "action," her screen presence is a valuable asset to the movie.

As for the urbane Marshall, I couldn't remember from my last viewing whether he was a good guy or a villain; the way his character is played, he could go either direction, and I was satisfied with the ultimate reveal.

Among the supporting cast I particularly liked Mary Ware as a seemingly timid "good girl" museum employee who turns out to be more than expected. Ware had a brief career; I plan to seek out the Hopalong Cassidy Western HOPPY'S HOLIDAY (1947) in which she had a role.

Ray Collins, Erskine Sanford, Damian O'Flynn, Dean Harens, and Edward Gargan round out the cast.

Beyond the cast and the dialogue by a trio of writers, the movie also has trains and the mid-'40s obsession with psychology going for it. Although at times it's a bit challenging to follow -- including not knowing for sure if the train crash was real or imagined -- I find it a quite enjoyable way to spend 93 minutes.

The movie was directed by Irving Reis and filmed in black and white by Robert De Grasse.

The Warner Archive's Blu-ray is from a 4K restoration of the original camera negative. It looks and sounds terrific.

Disc extras include the "Crime Does Not Pay" short PURITY SQUAD (1947), featuring a host of familiar character actors, and the trailer.

My fellow film noir and crime film fans should enjoy spending time with this one too. Recommended.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. Warner Archive Blu-rays may be ordered from Movie Zyng, Amazon, and other online retailers.

Tweet